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If you haven't found them yet, look for owner's groups. They are your best resource. Drv is www.suitesowners.com, not sure if Luxe would have one yet, New Horizons probably does. Post specific questions to owners. We are biased, we have owned 2 Drv's and would buy another. We fulltimed in a 2007 Drv Select Suite for 5 1/2 years and have lived in our 2012 Drv Mobile Suite for 4 years. When you compare quality units look at the frame and insulation. Drv's have 3 1/4" walls all around, even the slides. Drv owners are pretty loyal, buying a second and third one. Have you rv'd before? Don't drive yourself crazy looking for the perfect unit, there is no such thing. It's hard to know what floorplan is best for you until you spend time in it. If you spend a boat load of $$$ for a new shiny unit, then don't like the floorplan, well, you know. My 2 cents is buy a slightly used quality unit, spend a year in it, then you will know what you like and don't like. You can always buy a new unit later. Drv's and New Horizons are heavy, make sure you plan on a big enough truck.

We just went through the same thing, and ultimately opted for a DRV. We really liked the Luxe, but the cost was a lot more for what you can get in a comparable DRV. We opted for a new unit, so the New Horizons was out of our budget. If you go to the Augusta RV website and spec out a new Luxe, then compare that price to a new DRV, you'll see the price difference for yourself. In my experience dealing with the Augusta folks, they are eager to please and will build you what you want, but until they lower their base price, they can't compete with the DRV price point.

Thanks everyone. I did call the Luxe factory today and found out they sell directly from the factory which was exciting. I also mentioned the price difference between DRV and Luxe and why the higher Luxe price. The guy I spoke with mentioned that you have to compare the Luxe to the DRV Elite and not the mobile suite. This made sense as he walked through the differences and actually Luxe is less than the Elite. He also told me that Augusta pays their people hourly and not piece rate for quality purposes. I'm very impressed as I learned more today. I definitely like the DRV Elite as well. Thanks again for all of the helpful info!

Let me suggest doing an apples to apples comparison. Go to the DRV website and pull up the Mobile Suites standards. Do the same for the Luxe. You'll notice that there's not much of a difference, as DRV made standard for the model year 16 what used to be options or elite. If Augusta did the same thing for you that they did for me, and sent an email showing the differences, then take that to the DRV site and compare.

Additionally, you can get some of the options of an Elite Suite in the Mobile Suite line, meaning things like paint, floor tile, back splash, sconces, quartz coutertops, etc. I'm not defending one over the other, as I really like the Luxe, but a side by side comparison revealed a lot of similarities between the two at vastly different price points.

We special ordered our MobileSuites. We were planning to get the Elite but since the MS already has a lot of the Elite items like level Roof we ordered what I call a "Highly Elited" MS with somewhere around 62 changes.

We have Elite flooring, wood package, silverware drawer, exterior full body cut and buff paint, dining chairs, and wall sconces to name a few.

We did not want the power steps or fiberglass roof.

So it was much less expensive to get the modified MS.

For 70K I would look for a 2013 MS that has been well taken care of. Live in it for 2-3 years then order exactly what you want. You won't loose much on the 13.

We toured the DRV factory a couple of years ago. I asked the gentleman that took us on the tour about the differences between the Elite and Mobile suites. He told us that there are definite differences IF one sticks to the standards. Some of the items that are standard on the Elite Suites are options on the Mobile Suites. He told us that it was possible to delete items from the Elite Suites to get it more like the Mobile Suites (think delete granite countertops for Corian). The thing to remember, he said, it that even though an Elite Suites is optioned to be a Mobile Suites, it is still called an Elite Suites, and will be treated as such at trade-in time. Likewise, a Mobile Suites that is optioned up to be like an Elite Suites will still be treated as a Mobile Suites at trade-in time. I don't remember who our tour guide was, or what his position was, but I would assume that he has something to do with sales.

We went from a 2005 Newmar Dutch Star, an extremely well built unit, to our current full time home, a 2016 DRV Elite Suite.
We spent a great deal of time at last year's Tampa Show in January deciding on what we wanted. Narrowed it down to the Luxe & DRV. Toured both factories and after seeing the process of both, went with DRV.
Luxe, for our purposes had a nice unit, but does not have the history and experience in the market that DRV does.
DRV has similar qualities that Newmar has which influenced our decision. We have found their factory people very helpful and cooperative.
We are pulling it with a 2016 F-450.
Though we did not buy our unit from them, we've dealt with RV's for Less in Knoxville and regret not buying from them initially.
Good Luck!!

We were in the same quandary recently, considering a DRV vs. a Luxe. In fact we had posted here and got a lot of good information. We have been fulltimers for the past 6 years, in a nice rig, but not a "DRV". Back then, we had considered them, but the cost and weight factors steered us elsewhere.

So what did we just buy recently? An Augusta Ambition 38RL. No it doesn't have 4" thick walls and a heavy frame, but neither did our previous trailer. We don't stay anywhere where it's above 100F or below 10F so more insulation is really not needed. We do have dual pane windows, and almost all the amenities that a Luxe has without the extra weight and cost.

We are not saying anything bad about the Luxe, DRV, or New Horizon trailers, and in fact they are all great trailers from what we have seen. They were just more than what we needed. So if you are considering a rig for full-timing (or even snowbirding), think about what you really need vs more than what you do.

Don't put too much in Drv walls. The insulation will sag and it is compressed which initially weakens insulation effectiveness. I had one, mine did.

__________________
2003 Teton Grand Freedom. 2006 Freightliner Century 120 with Detroit 14L and Ultrashift.2015 Smartcar carry on deck. Full time going from job to job. Building and maintaining plants across the USA. Sold 2006 Mobile Suites 32TK3

Thanks for the responses everyone. It helps to hear how some of you made your purchase decision between the DRV and Luxe. After speaking all last week with the Luxe and DRV people, I have come to the decision that we are going to buy a Luxe. The reps at Augusta really took the time to show us the product, answer our questions, and point out the differences of why their product is made for the Full-Timer.

I did ask many questions about the Luxe compared to the DRV and they provided me a sheet that showed the differences between the two. We are paying more for the Luxe than if we bought a standard mobile suite but Less than if we bought an Elite or fully loaded mobile suite. Although I love the DRV Elite and history of the company, we just kept coming back to the Luxe.

Ultimately the fact that Luxe is factory direct and provided one on one attention to us made the decision easy. We were able to meet the President, Owners, Warranty Manager, and the people building our coach. I am a little nervous that they are a new company, but the experience and product speak for themselves.

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions and we look forward to our new Luxe! Have a great Christmas!

I tried to attach the differences the reps sent me but I did not have success. I'm just going to type them below instead. The big differences the reps pointed out between Luxe & DRV were the following:

1. Insulation - Luxe insulates in the underbelly with fiberglass and thermal wrap insulation. They insulate the chassis floor and chassis sidewalls. They also put heat pads on the tanks and force hot air into the underbelly.

2. Soft Touch Sidewalls - The LUxe has soft touch sidewalls which are also an insulator and the reps said a noise barrier so sound doesn't deflect throughout the unit. Luxe was the only 5th wheel I could find with soft touch walls. It also gave the unit a very high end appearance when I went for the tour and got to see it and touch it.

3. Multiplex lighting - the Luxe has a cool lighting system that lets you zone lights and has an on/off switch located next to the bedroom and entry door. We love this so that we can't just hit one switch and turn all lights off instead of flipping on/off every light in the unit.

4. Their auto leveling system was not Lippert but a company called equalizer. I guess eualizer only goes on expensive motorized units but Luxe is using it on the 5th wheel.

5. Welded Construction. Luxe welds and DRV uses screws for their sidewalls. My brother in law use to be a welder so I consulted him on this. I felt more comfortable with the welding.

6. The Wood - Luxe uses real wood everywhere. The rep explained that there is no wrapped wood or partical board used in the unit. They even use real wood on the ceiling. My wife also loved the dovetail cabinets. We did not see anything like them anywhere else.

7. The oven was also a big seller. My wife and I love to cook and the oven will be great when we start traveling.

These were the big ones they kept talking about at the factory that were unique to Luxe. They did speak highly of DRV tho and told us that no matter what unit we buy they are happy that we are full-timing and starting the lifestyle. We thought this was nice because they spoke highly of DRV the whole time.